Dardanelles Challenge 1915
Dardanelles Challenge 1915
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Location
Australian War College, Weston, ACTStart date
2024-08-13End date
2024-08-13Research statement
Background Wargame design as a field of academic research has exploded in recent years (Perla, Sabin, Bae), particularly in the field of professional military education (PME). The Australian Defence Force has identified an urgent need to better prepare its members to understand the dynamics of complex operations. Wargaming provides a method for preparing peacetime armed forces for the complexities of conflict, employing active and experiential learning. The Dardanelles Challenge 1915 wargame was designed to support my "Contemporary Trends in Modern Operations" unit at the Australian War College under Deakin's contract with Defence. Contribution As a simulation of the Dardanelles Campaign and the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915, Dardanelles Challenge was designed to introduce and immerse participants in a specific sort of tactical problem: that of anti-access area-denial (A2AD) warfare. The wargame provided a familiar and intriguing historical entry point to this kind of problem early in the unit. It was then supplemented with lectures, discussions, and further activities designed to build upon the insights from the wargame. Almost 200 students played on both sides of the conflict in an opposing-force exercise that required teamwork, flexibility, and understanding of unit materials to fulfil their aims. Significance Uniformed staff members at the Australian War College described the addition of Dardanelles Challenge 1915 into the curriculum as elevating the Contemporary Trends unit into a "world-class" unit. It is contributing significantly to the development of a vibrant wargaming capability at Deakin's Centre for Future Defence and National Security in Canberra, which I hope will continue to develop into a major source of value for when the Defence contract goes back to tender. This was also an opportunity to build innovative elements of curriculum beyond the lecture-discussion and enact active/experiential learning for an extremely large body of course members.Extent
Files including: - Game map, custom-built by Rob Engen using ArcGIS. - Extensive icons and graphical representations. - Game rulebook. - Excel spreadsheet for adjudication purposes. - Briefing slides and instructional videos. - Detailed instructions for the eight facilitators brought in to help run and adjudicate the game. - Detailed instructions for the sixteen uniformed directing staff responsible for managing their syndicates during the wargame. All game materials were prepared exclusively by Robert Engen.Recognition, awards & prizes
Deakin University, Teaching and Learning Award, Highly Commended, "Curriculum innovation based on scholarly and practice-based research in Teaching and Learning Award," 7 November 2024Event
Dardanelles Challenge 1915Publisher
Australian War CollegePlace of publication
Weston, ACTUsage metrics
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